The invention relates to improvements in detecting the last copy of a multiply copy run from a document reproduction machine and, particularly, to a method for enhancing successive nonoverlapping multiple copy runs.
High-speed document reproduction machines often are operated with successive multiple copy runs. At an output portion of said machine, a collator stacker or other paper handling device receives the produced copies and directs them to an appropriate exit point. Such exit point may be a bin in a collator or stacker, a noncollate receiving tray, and the like. Particularly when a collator or stacker is used, the distance from a common paper path to the ultimate exit point for a given copy is variable. Therefore, the time elapsed for a copy to reach its ultimate destination is likewise variable.
It is desirable to make multiple copy runs nonoverlapping for facilitating jam recovery. By limiting the paper path, including the output portions, to a single multiple copy run, there is no need to determine which run is being executed at a given time nor to determine which copies from which run of a plurality of runs have been affected by the jam. Accordingly, it is desirable in maintaining cost control to keep the copies of a multiple copy run distinct and separate; and, for throughput considerations, it is highly desirable to minimize the time from the last copy of a given run, leaving the document reproduction machine to the time a new run is initiated.